Closing system for structures such as inflatable tents or the like, and structure comprising said system

ABSTRACT

The closing system comprises at least a first fixed air chamber ( 13 ) surrounding an opening through a wall, and a second air chamber ( 17 ) surrounding a closing panel ( 15 ) and integral therewith. The first and the second air chamber are connected to each other by means of at least one connection member ( 19 ) which allows reciprocal movement of said two air chambers.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to improvements in the field of assemblable structures, in particular inflatable tents, i.e. structures composed of a framework formed of a set of air chambers, which once inflated holds taut walls and roofs composed of sheets welded to said framework.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a new closing system of the entrance and/or exit openings of this type of structure.

STATE OF THE ART

For many applications, also of the civil type, for example for action in areas hit by earthquakes or the like, inflatable tents are often used; in certain cases these tents require a specific closing system to protect the compartment or compartments inside the tent from the surrounding environment. Tents of this type are, for example, used for field hospitals also equipped with operating theaters. In this case, the need to prevent pathogenic agents or polluting agents from penetrating inside these areas of the tent used as operating theaters is evident. Further applications are found in the military sector, where it may be necessary to produce structures resistant to unconventional attacks.

An example of an inflatable tent for this type of use is described in EP-A-1229187. Examples of other structures destined for analogous uses are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,623,351; 4,707,953 and 2,910,994.

Currently the entrance and exit openings in this type of tent, even where there is a specific need to isolate the internal environment from the external environment, are provided with closing systems that are somewhat inefficient and/or complicated to install, or which require particularly laborious operations to open and close them.

In particular, when the structure is employed in hostile environments due to the presence of polluting agents, such as chemical or bacteriological agents or radiation, this causes evident drawbacks for the users. Typically, in conventional structures currently in use the wall of the tent through which the entrance and/or exit opening is produced has a U-shaped cut along which a closing zipper is provided. Access therefore entails partial or total opening of the zipper and subsequent re-closing thereof. This operation is lengthy and tiresome especially when performed in particularly hostile conditions and, moreover, the access to the structure remains open at length with a consequent increased risk of penetration of pathogenic or polluting agents.

In other known solutions, the opening to access the inflatable structure is produced by means of a rigid frame which is fixed to the ground and which forms a frame for a conventional metal winged door. This frame must then be sealingly connected to the edges of a sheet forming the wall of the structure. The drawbacks of this solution lie in the complexity of installation operations, which involve lengthy assembly times of the structure, incompatible with the need to act rapidly, especially when the structure is used in hostile environments.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to produce a closing system which overcomes entirely or in part at least some of the drawbacks of known systems.

According to a specific aspect, the object of the invention is to produce a more efficient closing system, rapid to install and which allows extremely easy access to or exit from said structure.

In substance, the invention relates to a closing system for pneumatic tents or other assemblable and disassemblable habitable structures comprising at least a first air chamber, fixed and surrounding an opening through a wall, and a second air chamber, movable and surrounding a closing panel with which it is integral. The first and the second air chamber are connected to each other by means of at least one connection member which allows a reciprocal movement of the two air chambers. This configuration makes the structure extremely simple to construct and use, at the same time guaranteeing effective isolation between the external environment and the inside of the tent. The closing panel can be composed of the same material (rubberized canvas or another material also with high resistance to agents used in military attacks with unconventional weapons) forming the rest of the structure.

Preferably, the first and the second air chamber have essentially the same extension.

In a practical embodiment the two air chambers are joined to each other so that the movement to open the panel and the movable air chamber surrounding it causes elastic deformation of the second air chamber, said elastic deformation stressing the panel towards a closed position with said air chambers resting against each other. In practice, oscillation of the panel or of a part thereof to access the inside of the tent or to exit therefrom causes elastic deformation of the inflated tubular member forming the second movable air chamber, so that when the panel is released it closes through elastic force, returning the tubular member to the position at rest corresponding to the closed position of said panel.

The connection member can be a hinge member. Preferably, two or more hinge members aligned along the same axis of oscillation are provided. The axis of the hinge or hinges can be parallel with the line around which the panel (or part thereof) is made to oscillate to obtain opening. Nonetheless, this is not essential.

In a possible embodiment two connection members are provided disposed aligned with each other along a straight line which divides the panel and the second air chamber into two portions openable independently from each other rotating about said straight line.

In practice, according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the opening has a form elongated along a median line and consequently the two air chambers also have a form elongated according to a principal median line. Preferably, in a possible embodiment, the two connection members are aligned with each other along said principle median line.

In a different embodiment, the first and the second air chamber are joined to each other by at least two connection members disposed at the sides with respect to said opening and defining an axis of oscillation for opening of the panel. In this case, the connection members define, for example, connection points between the first and the second air chamber, which can be positioned inside a closed line of tangency between the first and the second air chamber when the panel is in the closed position and the air chambers pressed against each other.

To prevent accidental opening caused by gusts of wind, according to a possible embodiment of the invention a m ember is provided to reciprocally lock the first and the second air chamber in a closed position of the panel. This locking member can be composed of a handle, advantageously hinged about an axis orthogonal to the wall in which the opening is produced and can be supported by said wall, instead of (as, for example, in the case of a normal door) on the movable panel.

According to a different aspect the invention relates to an assemblable and disassemblable habitable structure—such as and in particular a pneumatic or inflatable tent—comprising at least one wall with an opening and a closing system as described above.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the structure can be divided into a plurality of compartments in series, separated from one another by internal walls, and can comprise one or more of said closing systems, for one or more of the communication openings provided in the internal walls between one compartment and the next. The structure can have two opposed external walls, each provided with a closing system.

The internal compartment or compartments of the tent can be slightly pressurized to prevent the accidental entry of polluted air, pathogenic agents or the like. When the tent has several compartments in series, the various successive compartments advantageously have pressures increasing from the outside towards the inside of the structure.

Further advantageous characteristics of the closing system and of the structure incorporating it are illustrated hereunder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention shall be better understood by following the description and accompanying drawings, which show practical non-limiting embodiments of the invention. More specifically, in the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of an inflatable tent with an access opening provided with a closing system according to the invention in a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a front view analogous to FIG. 1, in a modified embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2A shows a cross section according to IIA-IIA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic side view of a tent incorporating a closing system according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a section according to IV-IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an enlargement of the detail V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a local section according to VI-VI in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With initial reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5, a temporary habitable structure, composed of a pneumatic or inflatable tent, is indicated as a whole with 1. Tents of this type are known and therefore the structure thereof will not be described in detail, but only to the extent required to understand the present invention.

The tent comprises a framework composed of arches 3 and longitudinal and transverse elements 5. A roof 7 is applied over the framework. The framework is composed of a plurality, of air chambers, so that when deflated the entire structure can be housed in a suitable container, which can also be used to house the instruments and accessories forming part of the services of the structure, such as the electrical system inclusive of any electric generator set and the ventilation system, which for applications of the type concerned here will be provided, in a per se known manner, with a system of filters.

The structure can be inflated in a per se known manner, such as with compressed gas bottles or compressors.

The tent is provided at the front and back with end walls, indicated with 9. FIG. 1 shows one of said walls, which has an opening 11 to access the inside of the tent. The opening has an approximately rectangular shape with rounded corners and is surrounded by an air chamber 13, visible in cross section in FIG. 4.

Inside the wall 9 a closing panel 15 is provided, formed of a sheet of plastic material analogous to the material forming the remaining parts of the tent and which can have specific characteristics of strength, as a function of the use to which the tent is subjected.

The panel 15 is surrounded by an air chamber 17, which extends essentially in the same way as the air chamber 13 surrounding the opening 11. The two air chambers 13 and 17 each have respective inflating valves and, optionally, overpressure valves, known per se and not shown.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the two air chambers 13 and 17 are connected to each other by connection members advantageously composed of hinges 19, each formed of two portions 19A, 19B applied by means of plates 19C, 19D to the tubular members forming the air chambers 13 and 17. The plates 19C, 19D can be welded or bonded in a per se known manner to the air chamber. The two portions 19A, 19B of each hinge are connected to each other by a pin 21, the axis of which forms the axis of the hinge. The pin 21 is for example composed of a threaded rod with a head and a nut and, optionally, lock nut (see FIG. 6, in which the same hinge is applied in a different way to a second embodiment described hereunder).

The axes of the hinges 19 are aligned with each other along a common straight line and are located inside a closed line L (FIG. 1) representing the line of tangency between the tubular members forming the air chambers 13, 17. With this particular arrangement, when the closing panel 15 is opened according to the arrow F in FIG. 4, the opening movement causes elastic deformation of the walls of the tubular member forming the air chamber 17. Consequently, as soon as the panel 15 is released, it returns elastically to the closed position in which it rests along the line L on the air chamber 13. The overpressure existing in the internal compartment of the tent 1 facilitates closing and guarantees that the panel 15 is held in the closed position pressing the air chamber 17 against the air chamber 13.

The closing system described hereinbefore is extremely simple to construct and install, as well as efficient from the viewpoint of adequate isolation of the inner volume of the tent from the external environment. Passage of personnel through the opening 11 is very simple and merely requires pushing on the panel 15 to deform it about the axis of the hinge 19.

If the tent requires to be used in particularly windy conditions, to prevent the pressure exerted by the wind on the external surface of the closing panel 15 from tending to open it by overcoming the overpressure existing inside the tent, in a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention a safety closure is provided, formed, for example, of a handle 25 hinged about an axis which crosses the wall 9. The handle has two arms 25A, 25B forming a U which lock the two air chambers 13, 17 against each other.

As shown in FIG. 3 the tent 1 is divided into portions by a plurality of arches 3, each composed of a system of tubular members or air chambers. When necessary, the inside of the tent 1 can be divided into compartments in series with one another by means of dividing walls at the level of the arches 3, said walls being essentially equivalent to the external wall 9. These walls can be provided with openings analogous opening 11, with closing systems analogous to the system 13-21 described above. In the various compartments of the tent a pressure can be maintained gradually increasing from the compartment nearest the external opening to the innermost compartment, thereby obtaining particularly effective isolation between external environment and the innermost compartment of the tent. The second wall 9 (rear wall) can be connected, for example, with another tent, with a transportable rigid structure, such as a decontamination shelter, or the like.

FIGS. 2 and 6 show a modified embodiment of the invention. The same numbers indicate the same or equivalent parts to those of the previous embodiment. In this case the dimensions of the opening 11 are slightly larger, as are the air chambers 13, 17 surrounding the opening and the closing panel 15.

The panel 15 with air chamber 17 surrounding it is joined to the air chamber 13 by means of two hinges 19, which are disposed at the level of an approximately vertical line L1, forming the center line of the opening 11. As can be seen in particular in FIG. 6, the hinges 19 (which, apart from the following, are produced in essentially the same way as the hinges 19 in FIGS. 1, 3, 5) are disposed with the axes thereof orthogonal to the center line L1. Therefore, they do not define axes of rotation or oscillation for the opening and closing of the panel 15, but simple reciprocal connection means between the tubular members forming the air chambers 13 and 17.

The center line L1 divides the closing panel 15 of the access opening 11 into two portions which can be opened independently from each other by means of oscillation and deformation about the line L1. In this way, all in all a double wing opening system is obtained, which, for example, can be used to leave and enter the structure 1. FIG. 2A schematically shows deformation of half of the closing panel 15 and of the relative tubular member forming the air chamber 17 to allow access through the opening 11.

The same structure can have closing systems of one or of the other type describe above.

It is understood that the drawing purely shows a practical embodiment of the invention, which may vary in shapes and arrangements, without however departing from the scope of the concept on which the invention is based. 

1. A closing system for pneumatic tents or other assemblable and disassemblable habitable structures and the like, comprising at least a first air chamber, fixed and surrounding an opening through a wall, and a second air chamber, surrounding a closing panel with which it is integral, said first and said second air chamber being connected to each other by means of at least one connection member which allows a reciprocal movement of said two air chambers.
 2. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second air chamber have essentially the same extension.
 3. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second air chamber are joined to each other by said connection member so that the movement to open panel causes elastic deformation of the second air chamber, said elastic deformation stressing the panel towards a closed position with said air chambers resting against each other.
 4. System as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first and said second air chamber are joined to each other by said connection member so that the movement to open panel causes elastic deformation of the second air chamber, said elastic deformation stressing the panel towards a closed position with said air chambers resting against each other.
 5. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second air chambers are connected to each other by at least one hinged connection member.
 6. System as claimed in claim 5, wherein said first and said second air chamber are connected to each other by at least two connection members.
 7. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said two connection members are disposed aligned with each other along a straight line which divides the panel and the second air chamber into two portions openable independently from each other rotating about said straight line.
 8. System as claimed in claim 7, wherein said two connection members are composed of hinges.
 9. System as claimed in claim 8, wherein said hinges are disposed with the axes thereof oriented at approximately 90° with respect to said straight line.
 10. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second air chamber have a form elongated according to a principal median line.
 11. System as claimed in claim 7, wherein said two connection members are aligned with each other along said principal median line.
 12. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second air chamber are joined to each other by at least two connection members disposed at a side with respect to said opening and defining an axis of oscillation for opening of the panel.
 13. System as claimed in claim 12, wherein said connection members define connection points between the first and the second air chamber which are inside a closed lien of tangency between the first and the second air chamber when the panel is in the closed position and the air chambers are pressed against each other.
 14. System as claimed in claim 12, wherein said connection members are composed of hinges the axes of which are aligned on said axis of oscillation.
 15. System as claimed in claim 13, wherein said connection members are composed of hinges the axes of which are aligned on said axis of oscillation.
 16. System as claimed in claim 1, comprising a member to reciprocally lock the first and the second air chamber in a closed position of the panel.
 17. System as claimed in claim 16, wherein said locking member comprises a handle.
 18. System as claimed in claim 17, wherein said handle is hinged to said wall.
 19. An assemblable and disassemblable habitable structure, comprising at least one wall with a closing system including at least a first air chamber, fixed and surrounding an opening through said wall, and a second air chamber, surrounding a closing panel with which it is integral, said first and said second air chamber being connected to each other by means of at least one connection member which allows a reciprocal movement of said two air chambers.
 20. Structure as claimed in claim 19, in the form of a pneumatic tent.
 21. Structure as claimed in claim 19, wherein the structure is divided into a plurality of compartments in series, separated from one another by internal walls, and including one or more of said closing systems, for one or more of the communication openings provided in the internal walls between one compartment and the next.
 22. Structure as claimed in claim 19, including two opposed external walls, each provided with a closing system. 